Can Islamic Banking Increase Financial Inclusion? /

The paper analyses existing country-level information on the relationship between the development of Islamic banking and financial inclusion. In Muslim countries-members of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC)-various indicators of financial inclusion tend to be lower, and the share of exc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ben Naceur, Sami
Other Authors: Barajas, Adolfo, Massara, Alexander
Format: Journal
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2015.
Series:IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2015/031
Online Access:Full text available on IMF
Description
Summary:The paper analyses existing country-level information on the relationship between the development of Islamic banking and financial inclusion. In Muslim countries-members of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC)-various indicators of financial inclusion tend to be lower, and the share of excluded individuals citing religious reasons for not using bank accounts is noticeably greater than in other countries; Islamic banking would therefore seem to be an effective avenue for financial inclusion. We found, however, that although physical access to financial services has grown more rapidly in the OIC countries, the use of these services has not increased as quickly. Moreover, regression analyis shows evidence of a positive link to credit to households and to firms for financing investment, but this empirical link remains tentative and relatively weak. The paper explores reasons that this might be the case and suggests several recommendations to enhance the ability of Islamic banking to promote financial inclusion.
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Physical Description:1 online resource (41 pages)
Format:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:1018-5941
Access:Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students